User Reviews

Attractive dark orangey amber in the New Belgium snifter. Plenty of foam and average carbonation. This is some bitter stuff. Starts out with pleasantly with a malty sweetness and some toasted grain.

Mango fruity flavors along with some grapefruit peel, and then the it just plain starts pushing on the bitterness receptor button. The malt and hop flavors are not bad, but the bitterness makes this totally undrinkable. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at the brewery restaurant in Oak Harbor.

22 oz bottle into a pint glass. Apparently brewed by Skagit River Brewery, and the bottle says 6.5%.

A: Pours a moderately hazy copper color. The head is disappointingly small; an aggressive pour only yielded a one finger light cream color. Having said that, the retention of the dinky head is excellent, and the lacing left down the glass is beautiful.

S: This one seems malty. Very little hops are prevalent aside from a hint of balancing pine; it's mostly biscuit, caramel, toffee, brown sugar, butterscotch, and marzipan on the nose. It comes off like an English-style IPA - and not a great one, either.

T: Uh oh. As soon as this hits the tongue, a wave of nondescript, generic bitterness scrapes the tongue harshly at first. It's just about the most unpleasant grapefruit-forward hop profile I've ever encountered. This soon gives way to another massive wave of diacetyl and (seemingly) battery acid. And then the bitterness becomes medicinal. And then the general flavor profile becomes metallic. And then the nasty hops intermingle with the buttery malt/yeast and becomes vomit-like in flavor. And then I get the urge to drainpour this. And then I retch after choking down another swig of this stuff. And then I drainpour this for real.

M: The texture doesn't seem so horrid at first...right up until the sharp coarseness of the body and unpleasant dryness brings out the nasty bitterness in the worst way possible. It even feels gross beyond just the flavors.

O: Welp, I think we found a gold standard for how bad an IPA can get - it tastes like 'crappy homebrew' levels of bad. I'd even surmise the year-old bottle of Torpedo I've got stashed away would be better than this. Avoid like the plague!

A: The beer poured a hazy but, clear light orange/amber color with an average head of white foam. Small strands of bubbles rose from the bottom and also clung to the sides of the glass. Lacing was OK...

S: This has a strong pine, lemon, off smell almost like someone's puke!

The beer pours a yellow color with a white head. The aroma is full of grapefruit and orange citrus with some bread from the malt mixed in. The flavor is more of the same. I get a lot of grapefruit and orange notes, with some grass also mixed in. There is a backbone provided by the biscuit malt which keeps the bitterness from being too high. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Poured nice pale bronze clear color into a pint glass. Foamy head color same, interesting splotchy foamy lace.
The taste was very enjoyable. Nothing special, just pleasantly not overpowering. If the mood is just to enjoy a good beer and not concern yourself with its greatness or not, this fits the bill.
A very worthwhile beer when the price is right.

A: Bought a 22 oz bomber of this at a local store. Pours a clear orange color, 1 finger width head, great lacing.
S: Grassy floral hops in the nose as well as some caramel/biscuty scents as well. Scent is really great.
T: Slight caramel up front with a big earthy almost metallic hop punch in the aftertaste.
M: Medium bodied beer,finishes dry and metallic
D: I'm gonna say average...would be above average if more balanced out.

Billowing 1 1/2 fingers white rocky head, medium dissipation with some lacing. Cllear light orange amber body, multiple streams of slow rising carbonation. Grassy, floral, spicy hops up front in the nose balanced by caramel and dryish (Pilsener?) malts, not really sweet smelling. Taste is spicy hops up front, a bit resiny, caramel sweetness in the middle, leading to a fairly bitter resiny finish, no shortness of hops here, lacking a bit in balance. Mouthfeel just on the light side of medium with minimal effervescence. Glad I tried this, but not close to top-shelf PNW IPA, but a nice change, would like to try the tap version of this. Worth a try.

Big-ass bomber purchased at Enoteca in Post Falls, Idaho, for $4.99. Though the label features a WWII era pilot, the beer is called afterburner. According to the label, this has an abv of 6.5%, and this was actually "brewed and bottled by Skagit River Brewery (Mount Vernon WA) for Flyers Brewery (Oak Harbor WA)." Maybe this is actually a bottle of Scullers.

Poured an orangey amber color, with a big, creamy, off-white head that hung around awhile It left lots of lace on the sides of a UK-style pintglass.

Hoppy in the taste, but not hugely so. A hardcore hophead would probably find it lacking, as this is not the type of IPA that strips the enamel off you teeth and beats the tastebuds into submission. The hops are fairly one-dimensional, all citrus, though the beer definitely doesn't taste bad, just not as interesting as some IPAs.

Medium bodied, with a coating, oily mouthfeel.

The most dominant flavor was of citrusy hops. There is also a bready malt scent, but it's definitely subordinte to the hops.

Quite drinkable. I could have more than one in a sitting without being put out. If this is on-tap or in decently priced bottles, I'd have it again, but I don't think I'd buy it for what I paid for it again.

Sunny, hazy yellow with a fluffy tan head with okay retention and poor lacing. Earthy hop aroma. Dirty, earthy hops are prominent with little malt to cling to and a light alcohol finish. Sharp carbonation.

Very unbalanced, apparently monohopped IPA. I usually like a good earthy taste in my beers but with nothing else to work off of this became more dirty than earthy and the high carbonation kind of wreaked havoc with the bitterness. It's not bad, just a bitter IPA which tasted like it had more alcohol than 6%, I assume that's where the afterburner name came from.

I've been a fan of this brewery, and this beer, since they first opened up. On a recent visit to the brewery I tried this beer again and either my mind is playing tricks on me or this beer isn't what it used to be.

Served in a straight pint glass, the beer was a coppery-amber color with a thin off-white head that had low retention and lacing. The aromas were very subdued, citrus and pine hop with some malt present. The taste was also not as tongue popping hoppy as in the past. The body was typical for the style and drinkability was good, but with the beer being a little dull why have multiples?

Perhaps this is just an off batch, because this beer has been one of my favorite IPAs since it was first brewed. I'll revisit this beer in a couple of months and see if this was an abberation, or if the general quality has slipped.

A pale amber ale of minimal carbonation with a skunk cannabis aroma and gripping lace. The flavor variously shows elements of herbal hops and tart grapefruit courtesy of five hops additions. Strong bittering brings it to a close.